To what extent had the role and status of women in society improve by 1900?

Up until The 19th centaury there was very little progress in the role of women in society, and it had stayed the same for several decades. All aspects of a women’s life including education, work and marriage and family, reflected the fact that women were seen as second class citizens to men. Women were predominately seen as only useful as a wife and a mother to several children, therefore many had little or no rights. As well as this it was thought that education was unnecessary as it would not be useful at home. As a result, the only education available for the working class was from charity, factory or dame schools. Although all of these did try and teach the bare minimum only a handful of girls were able to attend as many were sent out to work. Comparatively middle class girls were often educated at home by a governess, however the education given was often skills in pleasing a man such as cooking, playing music and sewing.

However this all changed in 1870 with the education reform act, this established the idea that the state must provide an education available for all children between the ages of 5-13, despite this parents were still charged a small fee for there children’s education. This was a huge step in improving the quality of life for many young women. It enabled them to apply for better paid jobs which require education instead of labour, as well as a huge expansion in teaching enabling women to enter a new profession. Although this was a vast improvement girls were still only taught the bare minimum in reading and writing as they concentrated far more on a domestic curriculum including sewing and cooking, whilst there male classmates were taught far more academic subjects such as science.

(Picture to show the new teaching profession and compulsive education.)

Pre 1870 marriage was seen more as a business in which a women who was a possession of her father and the only way for him to pass his responsibilities onto another man is for him to make sure his daughter marries. Therefore often the families had more control over who there daughter would marry often resulting in love being a low priority as so many other requirements of a husband were put first, such as wealth and respectability. The doclerine of couiture meant that upon marriage a woman loses her legal status, meaning a women was a possession of her husband. This lead to much domestic violence. This confided with the separate spheres theory. Up until 1857 divorce was almost impossible however it got a lot easier with the matrimonial causes act, by 1900 as 582 divorces had been issued, although this figure still shows that it was a very difficult procedure and very rare. In fact before 1852 wives did not even have the legal right to leave an intolerable husband.

Work was seen as unnecessary for many women as there work was mainly seen to be around the home, once again limited by there private sphere around the home.

Working women had no choice whether they could work or not as it was necessary for them and there families to survive. Many worked in unskilled jobs such as Domestic service, “sweated trades” or in the textile industry. However despite nearly

32% of the British working force were female, work in some of these same jobs as men suffered great inequality in the workplace such as women only earning ...

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Work was seen as unnecessary for many women as there work was mainly seen to be around the home, once again limited by there private sphere around the home.

32% of the British working force were female, work in some of these same jobs as men suffered great inequality in the workplace such as women only earning up to 40% of a mans salary in exactly the same job. Despite this women made up over half

the workforce in the textile industry, employers valued them for being able to carry out tasks men couldn’t such as having nimble fingers to tie together broken threads, As well as this there were many professions that women were banned from entering such as medicine. However by 1900 progress in some areas were made. New professions such as white blouse work, retail work and nursing (which became respectable through the work of figures such as Florence Nightingale) all became socially accepted as jobs suitable for women to perform. Although this was progress, inequality in the work place was still common, this was because many jobs such as becoming a doctor were impossible to be entered in by a woman as well as many still only earning a small fraction of the wages a man of the same job would earn.

(Florence Nightingale, a big influence in making nursing a respectable job and medicine an accessable profession for women.)

Much of views and standards placed upon Victorian women were a result of the separate spheres theory. This was a theory held by many men as well as women. It meant that men occupied different social spheres to women as they were more suited to perform in roles in the world of politics, work and war. Where as a woman was seen to be far more suited to a sphere in the private sector which involved domestic jobs around the house, raising children and act as a moral guide to give support and comfort to their husbands. Religion also played a part in this theory stating that it was part of Gods different designs and purposes for men and women. Queen Victoria also supported this theory when she once said : "Let women be what God intended, a helpmate for man, but with totally different duties and vocations." This encourages the fact that women should have different roles than men.

Despite the fact that most Victorians male and female firmly believed in separate spheres, towards the end of the 19th centaury it became more and more challenged. Political rights at a local level were still seen as the private sphere but on a larger scale. This means that there was no problem for women to have the right to vote and serve for school boards(1875), become poor law guardians (1875), vote for the new county and county borough councils (1888) and to serve on urban and district councils (1894). However political rights at a national level were seen as part of the public sphere as it involved war and taxes, therefore it was seen as the mans public sector and even by the turn of the centaury remained inaccessible to women.

This theory was also tested in the 1860s when a series of woman’s colleges were founded meaning that women for the first time had access to further education out of there domesticated sphere. By the end of the 19th centaury alterations in universities regulations meant that women could obtain the qualifications necessary to enter most

Professions such as journalism, medicine and teaching, however there were still many professions women could not enter as the theory of separate spheres often interfered, these included law and politics, mainly as they were the 2 most important professions in the public “mans” sphere. Despite the separate spheres theory forming such a fundamental part of Victorian life for all, through out the 19th centaury it became increasingly challenged by women at work, education and in there families, and although it did not decrease significantly in popularity, it did decrease steadily in importance.

Much of the expectations place upon Victorian women would have been in respect of her class. Although employment and education did improve towards the end of the 19th centaury, most women of all classes still believed that it was only acceptable to be married for security and status despite the huge loss in independence it involved.

Traditionally middle-class women would be expected to give up any previous employment to stay at home and bring up several children as well as running the home deploying the servants; this would take up nearly all of their time. However as it approached the beginning of the 20th centaury, further education such as going to university, became more common and highly regarded as an opportunity for independence as well as a necessary privilege for upper or middle- class women. Also as a result more women delayed marriage until later in life resulting in less children being born allowing middle class women to have more leisure time for themselves. Whilst life for middle class women was improving a

Whilst life for middle class women was improving, alternatively life for working-class women was very different. The new laws introduced such as allowing women to enter universities had little relevance to their lives; marriage to a man in regular employment still remained the main ambition of working-class women. Large families were still extremely common with some women pregnant on an almost annual basis, high mortality rates making many widows and having to cope with poverty was still a huge reality. Many were forced to take up employment, meaning they were forced to cope with work as well as running a household, with little and often no hope from there husband.

Overall the role and status of women in society did improve by 1900 in the fact that they were respected in more areas such as education and new jobs Were available such as white blouse work, greatly improving there status out side the traditional private sphere. Many middle-class women also proved to others that they could cope being independent and not having to rely on a man. However although there was little improvement, there was still a lot left to be done to dramatically improve the role and status of women such as equal pay and less limitations in what women were able to do such as the right to vote. Therefore the extent in which the role and status of women improved in the 19th centaury was minimal but not non-existent.

Bibliography

Votes for women 1860-1928 by Paula Bartley

The Angel in the House

By 1900 Middle-class women had Access to Opportunities in Higher education by Sophie Badham (article)

Images :

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http://www.kennesaw.edu/hss/wwork/education/images/NorthEnd.jpg